AS TO ANIMAL PORTRAITURE. 



Just a word about pictures. As is commonly understood, 

 there has been decided progress made in recent years in the 

 matter of animal portraiture and photography. In the prepara- 

 tion of illustrations for a volume of this description, where the 

 story extends back for more than a century, one of the regret- 

 table features is the lack of accurate delineations of the founda- 

 tion animals and the more noted show and breeding cattle fig- 

 uring in the history of the earlier years of business. From 

 Mr. W. H. Bustin of Herefordshire we have obtained portraits 

 of some of the men and views of some of the historic homes of 

 the old breed-builders, but when it comes to illustrations of the 

 epoch-making sires we are unable in most instances to give any 

 adequate presentation as to their real individual character. We 

 have to work from reproductions of old prints or lithographs 

 until we arrive at the time when the camera began to do more 

 or less effective work in animal life. 



It will be observed, therefore, that the portraits of many 

 of the earlier celebrities of the breed shown in this volume, are, 

 as a rule, unsatisfactory, in most cases probably overdone, with 

 the relative proportions of the body to the size of the limbs 

 altogether exaggerated. We have probably a mere approxima- 

 tion as to the character of the originals. The color markings 

 are shown with probable accuracy. Some of the old pictures 

 of certain of the more famous cattle seem so atrocious that the 

 author has deemed it best to omit them* entirely from this 

 volume. It is only when we turn the corner of the twen- 

 tieth century that animal photography begins to come efficiently 

 to our aid. Readers, therefore, in noting the illustrations in 

 this volume will please bear in mind that with the exception 

 of those presented near the close of the story, the pictures of 

 cattle herein reproduced are simply the best available; not at 

 all the kind that the author would have desired. 



